Loading amazing content...
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
May 2, 1908
Died
April 15, 1993
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Also Known As
- Billy Bakewell
- William Bakewell Jr.
- Bill Bakewell
William Bakewell
0.2 Popularity
Biography
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993), also known as Billy Bakewell, was an American actor, who achieved his greatest fame as one of the premiere juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Bakewell, educated at Los Angeles Harvard Military School, began his film career as an extra in the silent movie Fighting Blood (1924), and went on to appear in some 170 films and television shows. He had supporting roles at the end of the silent era and reached the peak of his career around 1930. He is perhaps best remembered for playing German soldier Albert Kropp in the film classic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), and Rodney Jordan, Joan Crawford's brother, in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931). He also co-starred in Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) with Winnie Lightner and Lilyan Tashman. In 1933, he contributed to the founding of the Screen Actors Guild, and was member 44 of the original 50. He never achieved stardom after the Depression years, although he became familiar in dozens of films, including his short appearance as a mounted soldier in Gone with the Wind (1939) whom Scarlett O'Hara asks when the Yankee soldiers are coming to Atlanta. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army with the rank of second lieutenant. He was stationed at the 73rd Evacuation Hospital and at the Radio Section of the Special Service Division as the Post Intelligence Officer. He also worked under the department that handled distribution of recorded programs to overseas station circuits. He starred in the Columbia Pictures serial Hop Harrigan (1946), where he played a top Air Corps pilot. He also portrayed Major Tobias Norton and a Keelboat Race Master of Ceremonies in the phenomenally popular Disney series Davy Crockett (1954-1955). In the 1960s, he guest starred in numerous situation comedy television series, including Guestward, Ho!, Pete and Gladys, Bringing Up Buddy, The Tab Hunter Show, Mister Ed, Leave It to Beaver, The Jack Benny Program, Petticoat Junction , and Hazel. He also was cast in episodes of Peter Gunn, Sea Hunt, Wagon Train, The Roaring 20s, The Virginian, Arrest and Trial, and 87th Precinct He played the Virginia statesman George Wythe in the episode "George Mason" in the 1965 NBC documentary series, Profiles in Courage. He made his last film in 1975. For four decades, Bakewell served on the board of Motion Picture and Television Fund. He died on April 15, 1993 of leukemia at the age of 84.
Known For
0.0
Himself
Bruised Celluloid
1984
6.1
Professor
The Strongest Man in the World
1975
🎬
0.0
Desk Clerk
Set This Town on Fire
1973
4.0
Jeremy's Father
Call Her Mom
1972
6.9
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
6.0
Carnival Host
Nanny and the Professor
1970
6.0
Norm
Nanny and the Professor
1970
6.0
Elroy
Love, American Style
1969
6.0
Brig. Gen. Swift (uncredited)
Not With My Wife, You Don't
1966
6.2
That Girl
1966
Credits
Bruised Celluloid
as Himself
1984
0.0
The Strongest Man in the World
as Professor
1975
6.1
🎬
Set This Town on Fire
as Desk Clerk
1973
0.0
Call Her Mom
as Jeremy's Father
1972
4.0
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
6.9
Nanny and the Professor
as Carnival Host
1970
6.0
Nanny and the Professor
as Norm
1970
6.0
Love, American Style
as Elroy
1969
6.0
Not With My Wife, You Don't
as Brig. Gen. Swift (uncredited)
1966
6.0
That Girl
1966
6.2
I Dream of Jeannie
as Colonel Harris
1965
7.8
Green Acres
1965
7.3
🎬
Profiles in Courage
as Wythe
1964
5.0
Petticoat Junction
as Ralph Craig
1963
5.8
Petticoat Junction
as Actor
1963
5.8
Petticoat Junction
as Herbert
1963
5.8
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
6.8
The Virginian
as Sam Branch
1962
6.5
The Virginian
as Nate Eastman
1962
6.5
Hazel
1961
6.8
87th Precinct
1961
7.5
Mister Ed
1961
6.8
The Roaring 20's
1960
0.0
🎬
Bringing Up Buddy
1960
0.0
Guestward, Ho!
1960
4.0
Pete and Gladys
1960
6.5
Peter Gunn
1958
6.5
Sea Hunt
1958
6.6
Harbor Command
1957
4.0
Leave It to Beaver
1957
7.0
Maverick
1957
6.8
M Squad
as Detective
1957
5.2
🎬
Official Detective
1957
0.0
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
as Official at Keel Boat Race (uncredited)
1956
6.4
Highway Patrol
1955
5.8
🎬
The Great Gildersleeve
1955
0.0
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
as Maj. Tobias Norton
1955
6.4
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
as Norton
1955
10.0
Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter
as Major Norton
1954
6.5
Lucky Me
as Motorist (uncredited)
1954
6.7
So This Is Love
as Charles, Waiter (uncredited)
1953
4.5
I'm the Law
1953
5.7
Radar Men from the Moon
as Ted Richards
1952
4.5
Come Fill the Cup
as Hal Ortman
1951
7.0
The Adventures of Boston Blackie
1951
4.0
When the Redskins Rode
as Appleby
1951
4.7
Wells Fargo Gunmaster
as Charlie Lannon
1951
0.0
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Major Dort
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Robert Cooper
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Michael Dailey
1950
6.3
The Capture
as Herb Tolin, Bolsa Grande Oil
1950
6.1
You Gotta Stay Happy
as Dick Hebert
1948
6.5
Night Wind
as Capt. Kingston
1948
0.0
Romance on the High Seas
as Dudley (Travel Agent)
1948
6.8
So This Is New York
as Hotel Clerk
1948
6.0
Arthur Takes Over
as Lawrence White
1948
2.0
King of the Bandits
as Captain Frank Mason
1947
4.0
🎬
Messenger of Peace
as Pastor Willie von Adel
1947
0.0
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
as Winters
1947
6.9
The Trespasser
as Bruce Coleman
1947
5.0
The Farmer's Daughter
as Windor
1947
6.9
The Fabulous Dorseys
as Eddie
1947
6.0
Jungle Terror
as Tom Branning
1946
0.0
Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways
as Hop Harrigan
1946
3.7
King of the Mounties
as Cpl. Hall Ross
1942
0.0
The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
as Hugh Pleasant
1942
5.7
The Postman Didn't Ring
as Robert Harwood Jr.
1942
0.0
I Live on Danger
as Mac
1942
5.7
The Dawn Express
as Tom Fielding
1942
4.0
Dr. Kildare's Victory
as Mr. Hubbell
1942
5.8
Seven Sinners
as Ensign
1940
5.8
The Saint Takes Over
as Shipboard Card Player
1940
6.3
Beyond Tomorrow
as David Chadwick
1940
6.0
Gone with the Wind
as Mounted Officer
1939
7.9
Hotel Imperial
as Cadet (uncredited)
1939
6.0
Zenobia
as Townsman at Zeke's Recitation
1939
4.6
King of the Turf
as Intern
1939
7.0
The Duke of West Point
as Committee Captain
1938
3.8
The Higgins Family
as Eddie Davis
1938
0.0
🎬
Exiled to Shanghai
as Andrew
1937
4.9
Trapped by G-Men
as Dick Withers
1937
0.0
Jungle Menace
as Tom Banning
1937
5.0
Dangerous Holiday
as Tom Connor
1937
1.0
Mile a Minute Love
as Bob
1937
6.0
Quality Street
as Lieutenant Spicer
1937
5.9
Sea Spoilers
as Lieut. Commander Mays
1936
4.5
Lady Luck
as Dave Haines
1936
5.0
Happiness C.O.D.
as Ken Sherridan
1935
6.0
Together We Live
as Billy
1935
0.0
Strangers All
as Dick Carter
1935
5.5
On Probation
as Bill Coleman
1935
0.0
Laddie
as Robert Pryor
1935
0.0
Sons of Steel
as Roland Chadburne
1934
5.0
Crimson Romance
as Adolph
1934
3.5
The Curtain Falls
as Barry Graham
1934
5.0
The Party's Over
as Clay
1934
3.0
Straight Is the Way
as Dr. Wilkes
1934
5.5
Green Eyes
as Cliff Miller
1934
5.0
The Quitter
as Russell Tilford
1934
0.0
Speed Wings
as Jerry
1934
0.0
You Can't Buy Everything
as Don Bell (adult)
1934
7.0
Straightaway
as Billy Dawson
1933
0.0
A Man of Sentiment
as John Russell
1933
0.0
Three-Cornered Moon
as Douglas Rimplegar
1933
5.2
Lucky Devils
as Slugger Jones
1933
6.3
Back Street
as Richard Saxel
1932
6.1
While Paris Sleeps
as Paul Renoir
1932
5.8
Cheaters at Play
as Maurice Perry
1932
0.0
The Spirit of Notre Dame
as Jim Stewart
1931
6.3
Guilty Hands
as Tommy Osgood
1931
6.0
A Woman of Experience
as Count Karl Runyi
1931
5.2
Daybreak
as Otto
1931
4.0
Politics
as Benny Emerson
1931
6.3
Dance, Fools, Dance
as Rodney Jordan
1931
6.4
Reducing
as Tommy Haverly
1931
4.3
Paid
as Carney
1930
6.8
The Bat Whispers
as Brook
1930
6.4
All Quiet on the Western Front
as Albert Kropp
1930
7.7
Playing Around
as Jack
1930
4.7
Show of Shows
as Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' Number (uncredited)
1929
5.5
Gold Diggers of Broadway
as Wally Saunders
1929
7.0
On With the Show!
as Jimmy
1929
5.0
Hot Stuff
as Mack Moran
1929
0.0
The Iron Mask
as Louis XIV / Twin Brother
1929
6.7
Lady of the Pavements
as A Pianist
1929
4.6
Annapolis
as Skippy
1928
3.0
The Battle of the Sexes
as The Son
1928
5.2
Harold Teen
as Percival
1928
7.0
The Latest from Paris
as Bud Dolan
1928
0.0
West Point
as 'Tex' McNeil
1928
7.4
The Shield of Honor
as Jerry MacDowell
1927
4.3
Mother
as Jerry Ellis
1927
0.0
The Heart Thief
1927
0.0
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
as Salesman
1926
0.0
Old Ironsides
as Young Philadelphian (uncredited)
1926
6.2
Whispering Wires
1926
0.0
The Last Edition
as 'Ink' Donovan
1925
5.0